Nokia posts a 384m net loss

The quarterly net loss of 384 million (R5.67 billion), compared to profit of 659m in the same business period a year ago.

The company said a re-assessment of deferred tax assets, mainly following tax rate changes in the US, contributed to the red ink. Net sales were almost unchanged year-on-year and worth 6.7bn.

In his outlook, chief executive Rajeev Suri said the group expected the market for its mainstay business area Networks “to decline again in 2018 at a slightly lower rate than (the) previous forecast, given early signs of improved conditions in North America”. Conditions were expected to “improve markedly” in 2019 and 2020 “driven by full-scale roll-outs of 5G networks”.